WOODLAND HILLS—The 101 Freeway was temporarily closed on August 22 due to a suspicious device that looked like a bomb, but ended up being harmless, according to police.

Caltrans workers reported the device just after 9 a.m., causing a temporary closure in both directions at Mulholland Drive/Valley Circle Boulevard and Shoup Avenue, with portions of Ventura Boulevard also being shut down, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

“It was a facsimile device, about 8 inches long, that was made to look like a pipe bomb but didn’t actually have any explosives in it,” said Sgt. Jeff Nuttall of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga Division.

After almost two hours, CHP re-opened both sides of the freeway around 11 a.m.

During the investigation into the suspicious device, many people took to social media to find out what was going on.

Patti, who works near the site of the apparent bomb, tweeted the following: “News helicopters hovering above my job, 101 freeway closed in both directions! What the heck! Some1 mentioned bomb squad.”